The Dawn of Fluid Dynamics: A Discipline Between Science and Technology

A remarkable account of the interaction between basic research and application, taking as its example the historical development of fluid dynamics in the first half of the 20th century. The book centers on the work of Ludwig Prandtl, founder of the aerodynamic research center (AVA) in G?ngen, whose work and decisive advances in boundary layer and wing theories became the basic material of fluid dynamics.
This is definitely not a biography of Prandtl (however desirable this might be), but a history of fluid dynamics a viewed by Prandtl′s impact on it, focusing on the science/technology dualism. This means that the field is not treated merely as a byproduct of aviation history, but instead this is the first publication to describe the evolution of fluid dynamics as a major field in modern science and engineering.
While certainly suitable for other readers, this book is intended for natural scientists and engineers, as well as historians of science and technology.

Spis treści:
Preface.
1. Diverging Trends before the 20th Century.
2. The Beginnings of Fluid Dynamics in Goettingen, 1904–1914.
3. Aviation and the Rise of Aerodynamics in the World War I.
4. The Internationalization of Fluid Mechanics in the 1920s.
5. A "Working Program" for Research on Turbulence.
6. Aerodynamics Comes of Age.
7. New Applications.
8. Prandtl, Fluid Dynamics and National Socialism.
9. New Centers.
10. Fluid Dynamics on the Eve of the Second World War.
11. Epilogue.
Appendix.
Abbreviations.
References.
Author Index.
Name Index.
Subject Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Michael Eckert studied physics at the Technical University Munich and received his PhD in theoretical physics from the University Bayreuth in 1979. He dedicated his subsequent career to the history of physics––with ramifications in scientific journalism and schoolbook editing. Since 1981 he was engaged in sev eral projects on the history of modern physics at the Deutsches Museum, Munich. He authored and co–authored books and articles on such diverse specialties as the history of soild state physics and plasma physics. Recently he was directing a project on the famous theoretical physicist Arnold Sommerfeld which resulted in a two–volume edition of Sommerfeld′s scientic correspondence (2000 and 2004). His present work on the history of fluid dynamics is part of a research group at the Deutsches Museum, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, with the focus on science–technology–interactions in the 20th century.

Okładka tylna:
A remarkable account of the interaction between basic research and application, taking as its example the historical development of fluid dynamics in the first half of the 20th century. The book centers on the work of Ludwig Prandtl, founder of the aerodynamic research center (AVA) in G?ngen, whose work and decisive advances in boundary layer and wing theories became the basic material of fluid dynamics.
This is definitely not a biography of Prandtl (however desirable this might be), but a history of fluid dynamics a viewed by Prandtl′s impact on it, focusing on the science/technology dualism. This means that the field is not treated merely as a byproduct of aviation history, but instead this is the first publication to describe the evolution of fluid dynamics as a major field in modern science and engineering.
While certainly suitable for other readers, this book is intended for natural scientists and engineers, as well as historians of science and technology.